About Sam LaGrone

Sam LaGrone is the USNI Online Editor at the U.S. Naval Institute.
He was formerly the U.S. Maritime Correspondent for the Washington D.C. bureau of Jane’s Defence Weekly and Jane’s Navy International. In his role he covered legislation, acquisition and operations for the Sea Services and spent time underway with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the Canadian Navy.
Sam is a 2003 graduate of Virginia Military Institute.

Related

Post navigation

So looks like the Taxpayers are getting screwed with the LCS crap. I hope the new GOP congress can kill the LCS program.

Rob C.

The problem is replaced it with “what”. It takes nearly decade work out a descent ship design. You don’t snap your fingers and designers have completely new design with all the systems that have to be developed. Off-the Shelf tech is usable, but its not always military survivable. Sure kill the LCS, but make sure there something there make work or there empty space in capacity to the entire Navy as whole.

You think it may take a decade to design a Frigate, but we have something available in the form of the US Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter design. I would prefer an upgunned NSC over the LCS crap.

Secundius

@ Nicky.

I think the design’s are there, it’s only a matter of how much “dust” as settled on them. There are probably “thousands” of design’s, but only a handful were actually built…

Then again congress will balk over buying a foreign designed frigate. Which is why the NSC Frigate design is a back up.

Secundius

@ Nicky.

The BERTHOLF class National Security Cutter, the US. Coast Guard might make a pretty good US. Frigate design. It certainly has the Endurance 62.5-days, Range 12,000nm & 8-knots, and the Speed ~28.5-knots. But you would have to totally rebuild from the “keel-up”, the design to meet US. Naval standards

Which is why I think taking the NSC design and beefing it up to Naval frigate standards would work.

Secundius

@ Nicky.

Your welcome, Nicky!

Secundius

@ Nicky.

There are currently three Frigate concept up for consideration.
1. A “beefed-up” version of the NSC class.
2. An extreme makeover of one or both LCS classes.
3. A Frigate varient of the Israeli SA’AR-5 class Corvette. Note that the SA’AR-5, is an American design and was built in the United States.

Or the other option is to make a trade deal with the UK on the Type 26 GCS. The deal with be, that the British share the cost of the F-35B in return the US will buy the Type 26 GCS.

Secundius

@ Nicky.

I think two other possible considerations should the Spanish F100 class Frigate and the F110 class Frigate. At the very least they look like American Design’s…

Secundius

@ Nicky.

That discussion has to be made between the British Foreign Office and the United States Department of State. They control all Military sales and transfers, NOT the Military.

Secundius

@ Nicky.

Did you get the information I sent on the ” beefing-up” process of the three possible Frigate classes that are “up” for consideration, this morning…

Uruzu

For the Freedom class, get rid of the Hellfire and Mk50 modules. Replace them with the ESSM or CAMM.

jonlo

Same with Independence class…and there is space to do it too.

SouthernCross

I’m surprised they didn’t consider an 8 cell (4×2) Mk-41 VLS capable of ESSM similar to the ones the Australians retrofitted into their OHP Frigates. This would have given the SSC a bigger AAW capability.

Are they considering the NSM for the anti-ship missile capability of SSC?

vincedc

Only ASW weapon is on the helo. That sounds risky. But the whole idea was to build a ship on the cheap. You get what you pay for.

Secundius

What’s wrong with either the Ambassador III or IV PBM’s design’s.

James B.

I dearly wish I would stop seeing the phrase “multi-mission” on fact sheets. Very few multi-mission ships the Navy has ever built do each mission equally well, and the most capable ships are those that pick a mission and stick with it.

The SCS sounds like it will be able to:
1) Sink enemy ships, but only ones far smaller than the SCS
2) Hassle enemy submarines, but probably not kill them
3) Defend against enemy air attack, but only if the aircraft fly directly overhead

I would rather the Navy build ships that do one thing well, rather than several things badly.

Secundius

Well, there also ArcLight, an extereme-range anti-shipping missile to replace the Harpoon. 2,000-miles in 30-minutes, claimed.